Stereotypes of Germans Explain Support for Trump

THEORY: The root of the blind support for Donald Trump is stereotypes about German people.

Premise 1: There is a portion of the population who sees Trump’s behavior as the same path taken by Hitler who as a nationalistic leader, targeting the chauvinism of a defeated nation to lead them on a new path to making their country (and by extension their lives) great again.Premise 2: There is no nation of people in which every person from that nation is entirely stupid or entirely racist.Premise 3: Historical patterns tend to repeat themselves if unchanged. In the United States we have expressions that support this “Learn from your mistakes” “ Everything old is new again.”Premise 4: If people see something bad coming their way, the automatic tendency instinctively and evolutionarily is to get out of the way of that thing or stop that thing from coming their way (i.e., flight or fight).

Based on these premises, I can explain why a portion of the population still supports Trump. It’s because they see Germans as stupid, racist, or bad people. I’m serious. Because common sense, hindsight, and historical evidence suggest that Hitler had a dramatic but predictable rise to power by using specific techniques which intentionally manipulated the populace to garner support. For those of us who see Trump as enacting this same pattern, it is as obvious as the nose on our faces. So, how can a portion of the population not see this?

Well, Trump supporters must see Germans as different, very different, than Americans because they definitely are not seeing what we are seeing. If they were seeing this, the support for Trump would be minuscule; he would already be impeached; and there would be no needs for ads on CNN explaining that an apple is not a banana or that the president is dangerous and should be impeached. We would already agree on these things.

Trump supporters are in complete denial that the pattern seen in Hitler is repeating itself under our very noses. So they must think what happened in Germany could never happen here and that there is something unique about Germans that allowed Nazi Germany to exist but that the same thing would not be able to happen here. They must thing that Americans have some unique ability to avoid being manipulated, which Germans lacked. The only conclusion to reach, then, is that they must see Germans as stupid for allowing Nazi Germany to happen right under their noses, and that Americans would know better. So there it is. A stereotype of Germans explaining why Trump has such steadfast supporters.

There is another stereotype that could explain this, but I am hesitant to say it. It could be that Germans are being stereotyped not as stupid but as racist. This would suggest not that Trump supporters are seeing themselves as different than Germans (in that Americans know better than to allow Trump from doing the same thing as Hitler because we are smarter). Rather, the stereotype of Germans as racist would suggest that Germans had the ‘right’ idea in thinking that there is a supreme race and that white straight lives matter more than minority lives. This would suggest that the stereotypes of Germans are not in contrast to what Trump supporters think of themselves but are in line with the ideology espoused by Trump supporters. This suggests that the reason Trump supporters aren’t aghast (like the rest of us) is because we all see the same thing coming our way but supporters want it (and we don’t).

Whether Germans are stereotyped as stupid or racist, either way, justifies Nazi Germany taking place in the mind of Trump supporters and positions Trump supporters in the same historically predictable pattern of behavior as those ordinary citizens who supported Hitler, whether in denial or in support.

Germans should be insulted by either stereotype. Their modern world has become an ideal democratic inclusive country to be admired in that it both acknowledges its history but also does not let it define them in the contemporary world. They don’t deserve to be targeted by stereotypes. What’s more, America can’t afford to have these stereotypes of Germans. Some Germans saw Hitler coming. Too many didn’t. Not because they were stupid or racist, but because everyday people found a charismatic, nationalistic leader to lead them on a new path to making their country (and by extension their lives) great again.

If these stereotypes of Germans stand, the next World War will start with the United States and, worse, it will be because that’s what some Americans can see coming and want to happen.